An SQL result set is a set of rows from a database, as well as metadata about the query such as the column names, and the types and sizes of each column. Depending on the database system, the number of rows in the result set may or may not be known. Usually, this number is not known up front because the result set is built on-the-fly. Precomputations often impose undesired performance impacts.
A result set is effectively a table. The ORDER BY clause can be used in a query to impose a certain sort condition on the rows. Without that clause, there is no guarantee whatsoever on the order in which the rows are returned.
Famous quotes containing the words result and/or set:
“A little reflection will enable any person to detect in himself that setness in trifles which is the result of the unwatched instinct of self-will and to establish over himself a jealous guardianship.”
—Harriet Beecher Stowe (1811–1896)
“One, two and many: flesh had made him blind,
Flesh had one pleasure only in the act,
Flesh set one purpose only in the mind—
Triumph of flesh and afterwards to find
Still those same terrors wherewith flesh was racked.”
—Robert Graves (1895–1985)